100 Days to Chickamauga

I just did the math and discovered that today marks exactly 100 days until my Marathon. That made me ponder the state of my preparation. Where am I meeting my goals and where am I still lacking? Besides running a marathon, many of you may not know what my goals in relation to it are. For the sake of accountability, I will share my Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) with you. (Yes, I am a geek engineer, with a MBA to make matters worse...)

1. Miles per Week: 35 – Many of the books I have read on the subject have indicated that this is the minimal level of training required to run a "successful" marathon. To date my highest mileage week has been 34.5 miles. As my long runs get longer I should reach this goal. I may have to start adding a second run a couple days a week or come to grips with the concept of rising EVEN EARLIER to get more than 3.5-5 miles in each morning. Especially after school starts and I will be pinched for time in the morning.
   
2. Weight: 183 – This was established as my goal long ago based on the significance of that being the weight at which my body mass index (BMI) would fall below 25. I would then no longer be classified as overweight, which is where I am now with a BMI just over 26, or obese, which is where I started with a BMI over 37. My 15-day moving average weight is currently 196.0. After my half marathon last fall I weighed 199 but then "took a break" over the holidays and drifted back up into the 202-203 range. Putting in the miles I am, this one is harder than it sounds as the hard training makes me HUNGRY, but I am still hopeful as that really only works out to 1 lb per week going forward. Problem is, I have been in the 196-198 window for about 3 months now…
   
3. Run Sub-4 hour Marathon – This one is a little hard to measure without running the full distance. If you do the math, 4 hours to run 26.2 miles works out to just over 9 minutes and 9 second per mile. I ran my half marathon at 9:05 pace to come in under 2 hours but somehow I know I couldn’t have kept that pace for the next 13.1 miles… back then. Since then, my 10k times have improved from 53 minutes to 48 minutes. Plug a 48 minute 10k into various prediction calculators that account for slowing over the course of the longer distance and they predict I should run somewhere in the 3hr45min range for a Marathon. The other observation I made looking at my running data since March though, is that my average pace is SLOWING each month. Starting in March my average pace per mile has gone 8:43, 8:45, 8:45, 8:52, and 8:53. Although this was a bit of a surprise to me at first, there are some explanations. Since March my monthly mileage has tripled from 42 to 132 increasing the wear and tear on this poor body. Since March the morning temperatures have doubled from a refreshing and dry 35 to a hot and steamy 70+ (some scientists say to expect add 30 seconds for each 5 degrees over 60). Lastly, since March more of my miles are now coming from my Saturday long runs which are generally run at a slower pace ~9:00/mile. I’m not in panic mode on this one yet.
   
4. Run 6 days a week – This one is based on knowing that the key to my success is consistency. I always take a rest day on Sunday for the Sabbath of course but it also works well that my long runs are on Saturday. I’m not saying I won’t backslide, but this, with the loving support of my wife, is the metric I’m doing best with for now. In the month of July I only missed 3 days (not counting the 4 Sundays of course). One was the day we went to Six Flags and I would contend I walked a good 20 miles that day. The next was the Monday following my week of vacation where getting myself out of bed at 5 am… just didn’t happen. The last was pure and simple laziness last Thursday. There have been a few evening runs to make up for missed morning runs but for the most part, it is now part of my morning routine. Over the month of July I averaged 5.5 miles for each day I ran or 4.9 miles per available running day.
   
5. Raise $1000 for Diabetes Research/Treatment – This is one that is a bit out of my control. As you all know I chose to join a fundraising group, the Diabetes Action Team, as part of my marathon training. After an initial flurry of donations, I haven’t seen anything for a while. To date I have raised $170 through the good graces of some of my friends and family. I hope I have been true to my word to not harp on you and drown you with emails and solicitations but if you haven’t donated yet, please consider donating as you read this. I am truly humbled each time I get one of those "A donation has been made in your name" emails and it always drives me to rise each morning. Some of my best runs have been the day after a donation as they push me to be my best. So I ask you again, to share in my joy and help me reach my goal. If I can run 500 miles year to date with probably another 400 or so over the next 100 days, is a donation to a worthy cause too much to ask? Either way, I love you all and hopefully, if nothing else, I have your thoughts and prayers.